Plattekill Supervisor Bruce Loertscher dies at 56

PLATTEKILL, N.Y. -- Town Supervisor Bruce Loertscher died Tuesday night after a long battle with cancer.

He was 56.

Ulster County Legislator Kevin Roberts said he knew Loertscher for years and is "deeply saddened by his loss"

"I am going to miss Bruce. The town is going to miss Bruce," said Roberts, R-Wallkill.

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Loertscher, a Republican, had been town supervisor since 2006 and last was elected in November 2011. Before that, he was a Town Board member for four years, and before that, he served on the town Planning Board.

In a 2011 story in the Freeman, Loertscher identified himself as a farmer and lifelong Ulster County resident.

"Bruce was many things: Farmer, friend," county Legislator Hector Rodriguez, D-New Paltz, posted on Facebook on Wednesday. "I knew him most of my life -- as the person we got hay from when I was a kid to serving with him on the Plattekill Planning Board. I'm so sorry to hear of his passing."